Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare (Isaiah 55:2 NIV).
In these lines you are called to listen carefully. If you will do so you will be able to hear the gentle whispering of the Spirit of God. He is trying to tell you something important. It is not in a spirit of rebuke that this advice comes to you, but in a spirit of love.
Two things are brought to your notice here: money and labor. Two questions are asked based on this. Will you listen?
The first question is why you are spending money on what is not bread. Why is this question important? It is because money is not something that comes easily to everyone. In your case, you might most probably be one who makes money through hard and honest work.
Can it be imagined that you would waste your money by spending it on food that you cannot eat? But is God here really asking you about food? Not at all! He is asking you not to spend your money on worthless things that cannot enrich your soul; but will only cause harm to it.
The second question is about your labor. Are you spending your time and effort in some labor that God has not blessed. (Of course labor here does not refer to your job.)
Instead it stands for your pursuit for satisfaction without God, in the hot pleasure-lanes of this world. Such labor creates a gnawing emptiness at best.
So, listen to the Spirit of God speaking to you today. Stop spending your money on what cannot strengthen you. Stop your labor on what satisfies not. Listen, listen!
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